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DateConcertDescription
10/5/2008 6:30:00 PMFerenc Illenyi and his Gypsy Band Get ready for a fun and exciting way to start our 2008-2009 season. Houston Symphony violinist Ferenc Illenyi will lead his Gypsy Band through an eclectic evening of rhythms, classical interpretations, and jazz improvisations taken from Gypsy styles in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a concert that will have you dancing in your seat. ……………………………………………………………… This will be a concert that either you were thrilled to have attended or very sorry to have missed!
11/21/2008 7:30:00 PMJudy Dines (flute) / Patti Wolf (piano) We last featured flute in our series three seasons ago with Cynthia Meyers who is now part of the Boston Symphony. This year we are pleased to bring back a flute performance; this time featuring Judy Dines. In addition to her position as flutist for the Houston Symphony, Judy is an active and highly accomplished chamber music performer. ……………………………………………………………… Patti Wolf last performed for us as a duet in 2002 and as part of the "Brass Quartet + Piano" program in 2004. Patti has the distinction along with Marina Brubaker of being the first musician to perform in the Cutler Music Hall. This year Patti will be with us twice. In addition to this concert, she will be performing with Lynn Harrell in a Cello/Piano recital on April 1, 2009.
1/16/2009 7:30:00 PMJade Simmons - piano The charismatic pianist Jade Simmons is a performer for the 21st Century. She possesses artistry, passion and creativity, infusing every project with her unique brand of communicative powers. Conservatory trained at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music with Jon Kimura Parker and most recently at the Foundation Bell' Arte in Brussels, Jade's aesthetic interests bridge traditional repertoire and the music of our time. ……………………………………………………………… Oh, and by the way, Jade was Miss Illinois and first runner up at the 2000 Miss America Pageant where she performed Chopin's Etude in c-sharp minor, Op. 10, No 4 live before a television audience of millions.
2/13/2009 7:30:00 PM2009 Gala - Reigning Van Cliburn Silver Medalist, Joyce Yang We are thrilled to be able to present Joyce Yang, the reigning Silver Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in a competition year. The Juilliard trained Joyce has been an amazingly popular Cliburn winner and recently appeared for a solo recital at the Wortham Center's Cullen Theater for the Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) and during her reign as Cliburn Silver Medalist has performed twice with the Houston Symphony. ……………………………………………………………… Joyce is the 5th competitor and third medalist of the Cliburn to perform at the Woodlands Salon Series. ……………………………………………………………… At nineteen years of age, Joyce Yang was awarded the silver medal at the Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Ms. Yang has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center, the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, the Aspen Symphony, and she opened the season of the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. In November 2006, Joyce Yang made her New York Philharmonic debut with Lorin Maazel in Avery Fisher Hall, preceded by concerts with them in Korea. She appeared with them again in June 2007 in New York City and in July 2007 in Vail, CO, and is slated for June 2008 and the 2008/2009 season. Upcoming engagements include recitals in Chicago presented by the Chicago Symphony, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Ft. Worth for the Van Cliburn Foundation, Seoul, Korea and six recitals in Hawaii. In 1997, Joyce moved to the United States to begin studies at the pre-college division of the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Her debut disc distributed by harmonia mundi usa includes live performances of works by Bach, Liszt, Scarlatti, and the Australian composer Carl Vine. She currently resides in New York City where she attends the Juilliard School as a student of Dr. Yohaved Kaplinsky.
4/1/2009 7:30:00 PMLynn Harrell (cello) / Patti Wolf (piano) - Wednesday concert In a special Wednesday concert, still awaiting final confirmation, we are thrilled to be able to present internationally renowned cellist Lynn Harrell along with pianist Patti Wolf. Lynn Harrell is one of the marquee faculty at Rice's Shepherd School of Music for which 2008 - 2009 will be his final year at Rice before returning to California. ……………………………………………………………… A consummate soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor and teacher, LYNN HARRELL's work in America, Europe and Asia has placed him in the highest echelon of today's performing artists. A frequent guest of many of the leading orchestras, in recent seasons Mr. Harrell has performed with the Boston and Chicago symphonies, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony (whom he guest conducted), the St. Louis Symphony at Royal Festival Hall, the London Philharmonic with Kurt Masur conducting, and the Israel Philharmonic with Franz Welser-Möst conducting. Additional highlights include a two week tour to Japan with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Pinchas Zukerman, a three week "Lynn Harrell Cello Festival" with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and a return tour to Australia. ……………………………………………………………… A special part of Mr. Harrell's life is the Aspen Music Festival, where he has spent his summers performing and teaching for nearly 50 years. In the summer of 1999 he presented a unique recital program called "Songs My Father Taught Me", a tribute to his father, Mack Harrell, who was one of the earliest members of the Aspen family. Mr. Harrell is also a regular participant at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. On April 7, 1994, he appeared at the Vatican with the Royal Philharmonic conducted by Gilbert Levine in a concert dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The audience for this historic event, which was the Vatican's first official commemoration of the Holocaust, included Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbi of Rome.
5/1/2009 7:30:00 PMEric Halen (violin) / Scott Holshouser (Piano) Our final concert of the 2008-2009 season brings back our most popular pair of musicians - Eric Halen (Acting Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony) and Scott Holshouser (Principal Keyboard of the Houston Symphony). Eric and Scott's recitals at the Woodlands Salon Series have consistantly drawn our largest audiances and sold out last season. This will be a great way to end the season.